Not sure if it’s the same tint issue but reversing the lens on my S42 removed a sickly tint from the beam and made it very nice indeed. I actually find this for all lights with AR coated lenses, i reverse them all for a much more satisfying beam.
Could be worth a test.

Switching from an AR coated lens to a plain one can reduce the yellow and vice versa. It’s an easy way to shift the tint a little bit. All the AR coated lens I’ve seen were coated on both sides so flipping it does nothing. Maybe your S42 lens is only coated on one side?

Just curious, to anyone getting just one of these which led will you be getting and why?

I can't really get two because... money, and I haven't chosen yet... I'm really confused about tints lately, so if anyone feels like helping me out with a recommendation please do so lol. If you don't care about the boring OT, please skip the next part

I have the D4 with 3000K SST-20s and I don't find it rosy at all. Slightly greenish actually at lower levels. Confused why someone would put them into a light to make it more rosy... must mean the LH351D is super green?Sofirn C01 3200K is actually more reddish/magenta than those SST-20 and is closer to an incandescent bulb (because more reds/oranges). The 5A BLF A6 I got wasn't even rosy, it was straight up pink/purple... Maybe I got something like a 5R tint, who knows... I think it's not right for them not to tell you if it's 5A1 or 5A2, etc... Ended up swapping in a 5D XP-L HD from fasttech, that one's much less pink, but compared to actual daylight (winter here so it's pretty warm for daylight since the sun is never high up) still quite a rosy warmish color (like a creamy salmon color). It looks more balanced on lower levels tough, just a creamy white. I have a Nitecore MT06MD with a single 219B (5000K I assume) in it. It's a tiny bit warmer than daylight and pretty neutral tint wise. Leaning towards magenta. I really like it, it's not driven on super high current though... so idk how it'd look in a hotrod. Recently got a 348, they sold it as "NVSW219BT-V1" but it's much greener than that Nitecore so I'm assuming 219C? It's really close to my winter daylight, a tad and greener. A bit warmer than pure summer high-noon daylight I'd say. A tad too green for me at night though actually. But not driven at full power with just a single AAA battery of course.I also have a Fenix TK20R, it has an XP-L HI but unknown CCT/tint. It's colder than the 219B and greener, but not overwhelmingly. I probably wouldn't even call it a cool white, but it probably is closer to 6000K... idk, when hearing cool white I have to think of those ice blue christmas lights.So where do LH351D and XP-L 3D fit into this? I guess I could stare at measured color charts but I don't think it'll help me understand where these two are positioned... After my experience with the A6 I'm now kinda scared of tints below the BBL... What do you recommend? Thanks!

I can’t really get two because… money, and I haven’t chosen yet… I’m really confused about tints lately, so if anyone feels like helping me out with a recommendation please do so lol. If you don’t care about the boring OT, please skip the next part

I have the D4 with 3000K SST-20s and I don’t find it rosy at all. Slightly greenish actually at lower levels. Confused why someone would put them into a light to make it more rosy… must mean the LH351D is super green?

Sofirn C01 3200K is actually more reddish/magenta than those SST-20 and is closer to an incandescent bulb (because more reds/oranges).

The 5A BLF A6 I got wasn’t even rosy, it was straight up pink/purple… Maybe I got something like a 5R tint, who knows… I think it’s not right for them not to tell you if it’s 5A1 or 5A2, etc… Ended up swapping in a 5D XP-L HD from fasttech, that one’s much less pink, but compared to actual daylight (winter here so it’s pretty warm for daylight since the sun is never high up) still quite a rosy warmish color (like a creamy salmon color). It looks more balanced on lower levels tough, just a creamy white.

I have a Nitecore MT06MD with a single 219B (5000K I assume) in it. It’s a tiny bit warmer than daylight and pretty neutral tint wise. Leaning towards magenta. I really like it, it’s not driven on super high current though… so idk how it’d look in a hotrod.

Recently got a 348, they sold it as “NVSW219BT-V1” but it’s much greener than that Nitecore so I’m assuming 219C? It’s really close to my winter daylight, a tad and greener. A bit warmer than pure summer high-noon daylight I’d say. A tad too green for me at night though actually. But not driven at full power with just a single AAA battery of course.

I also have a Fenix TK20R, it has an XP-L HI but unknown CCT/tint. It’s colder than the 219B and greener, but not overwhelmingly. I probably wouldn’t even call it a cool white, but it probably is closer to 6000K… idk, when hearing cool white I have to think of those ice blue christmas lights.

So where do LH351D and XP-L 3D fit into this? I guess I could stare at measured color charts but I don’t think it’ll help me understand where these two are positioned… After my experience with the A6 I’m now kinda scared of tints below the BBL… What do you recommend? Thanks.

The SST-20’s are documented by Maukka to shift from moderately green at low output to neutral or moderately rosy at high output (at least, in the FB4 bin). The appeal of SST-20’s should not rosiness, as far as I know, but the combination of high CRI and decent throw. That said, I’m under the impression that the SST-20’s Fireflies got their hands on are a rosier bin.

The LH351D seems to mostly be available in a tint that tends slightly green, but it sounds like some batches can be a lot worse than others. LH351D will be pretty floody. The limited data I’ve seen suggest the tint shift across the beam and at differing currents is relatively small, which is good.

I don’t know what to say about your XP-L HI experience, as I don’t have any. Most people seem to like the 3A and 3D bins, and the reduced amount of tint-shift in the beam compared to the HD. “Purple” is normally how below BBL tint is described for cool white emitters, not 4000K. Maybe you received a different CCT than you ordered?

My personal plan, because red rendering is important to me and I’ve found myself ok with a slight amount of green in the beam as long as the tint shift to the spill is minimal, is to order the LH351D version, and also get an SST-20 triple board from Kaidomain, and compare both to see which I prefer.

I also plan to get some loose LH351D to experiment with slicing the domes to see if I like that. Djozz has found the LH351D looses about 20% output when slicing, but the tint tends to shift below the black body locus, and warms up by about 500K. If I like the results, I might try it on my FW3A.

I look around and see some other lights I am interested in, but say NO to them as this light offers so much for so little money. Let’s hurry up and get this light so I can buy some others

Buying flashlights is like buying guns. Once you think you’ve found the perfect one and buy it another one will turn up in a short amount of time that promises to be the last one you’ll ever buy. I have guns that I never shoot and flashlights that I never use other than wall shots. So in the end buy whatever strikes your fancy at the moment knowing that it will soon be destined for the storage bin

After you’ve been around here for a while you learn to have some patience with the development progress of these project lights. They do take a while to get things right. It’s not like the forum members or the people in China have nothing else to do and can move a project from being a glimmer in someone’s imagination to a completed-available-for-purchase project in a short period. It will all come together when everybody involved in the design and production has completed their part.

I’m gonna crawl out on a limb here & just tell you that “request” will be denied.

I know. Just planting the seed.

will34 wrote:

A special boost driver would be required with higher LVP than normal Li-Ion. Such driver would need to handle 30W+ and probably costs as much as the entire flashlight.

LiFePo4 18650s also have low capacity which makes it impractical for such high current draw.

With regard to capacity, sure, it would be about half… That’s acceptable to me. … And they do make high-drain LiFePo4 cells (~20A continuous, 70A pulse)

As for boost drivers and such, I’m going to start a new thread and flesh this out some more. I have some ideas… I mean, I know it’s possible to do this cheaply given all the 1 x AA lights out there — though probably at a much reduced throughput (far less than 30W).

As for boost drivers and such, I’m going to start a new thread and flesh this out some more. I have some ideas… I mean, I know it’s possible to do this cheaply given all the 1 x AA lights out there — though probably at a much reduced throughput (far less than 30W).

The only reason 1 x AA boost drivers are so cheap is because they are for 1 x AA. We are just now getting some aftermarket boost drivers that are powerful – about 50w. They are still expensive, though. It might be many more months or 2020 before we get a range of sizes. So I would not hold my breath for a FW3A specific boost driver.

It will accept LiFePO4 cells no problem. The driver will not mind. You do need low voltage leds to go with it though, not the XP-L or LH351D. If you can manage fit SST-20 leds or Luxeon V’s, you are good to go. It will cost you output on turbo (that was insanely bright anyway) but the lower modes will work until the batterie is mostly drained.

It will accept LiFePO4 cells no problem. The driver will not mind. You do need low voltage leds to go with it though, not the XP-L or LH351D. If you can manage fit SST-20 leds or Luxeon V’s, you are good to go. It will cost you output on turbo (that was insanely bright anyway) but the lower modes will work until the batterie is mostly drained.

It may also be a good idea to modify the low voltage threshold in the firmware, but otherwise… yeah. It should work fine with LiFePO4 if it has an appropriate emitter. For example, some color XP-E2 emitters have particularly low Vf.